UN: Kenya, Uganda to blame for South Sudan stalemate

South Sudan President Salva Kiir (right) shakes hands with arch-rival Riek Machar during peace talks at Uganda's statehouse in Entebbe. PHOTO | SUMY SADURNI | AFP

Kenya and Uganda have played roles that contribute to “a dangerous stalemate” in South Sudan, a United Nations panel of experts said on Friday.

The panel reported that Uganda deployed troops in Yei River State last month, a move it described as   violation of the international arms embargo on South Sudan.

Uganda's involvement emboldens the hard line positions" of the South Sudan government, the panel says.

Kenya, on its part, has “not demonstrated sufficient political and diplomatic will to consistently support the peace process,” the panel said in a report to the UN Security Council.

Ethiopia is criticised, along with Kenya, for failing to use leadership roles in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) to exert regional leverage on South Sudan's antagonists.

 “The government, in particular, has benefited from the inconsistent approach of the region,” the panel notes in regard Salva Kiir to administration.

 “The bilateral meetings between the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, and Mr Kiir in Nairobi on 1 and 2 July 2019 have not led to the sustained presence and pressure necessary to fully implement the pre-transitional provisions of the agreement,” the UN panel states in reference to a peace deal reached last year.

The Kenyan government has also not responded to the panel's inquiries regarding apparent violations of the UN asset freeze and travel ban on South Sudanese included on a Security Council sanctions list.

The panel says it has identified accounts in an unnamed Kenyan bank related to Malek Reuben Riak Rengu, a former South Sudan senior security official accused of overseeing the killings of civilians.

The bank has not responded to the panel's request for information on these accounts, the report says.